In a speech introduced by Holocaust survivor Professor Elie Wiesel, President Obama marked Holocause Remembrance Day with a speech at the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington D.C. Gay victims of the atrocity were among those the President noted in his speech:

I say this as a President, and I say it as a father. We must tell our children about a crime unique in human history. The one and only Holocaust -- six million innocent people -- men, women, children, babies -- sent to their deaths just for being different, just for being Jewish. We tell them, our children, about the millions of Poles and Catholics and Roma and gay people and so many others who also must never be forgotten. Let us tell our children not only how they died, but also how they lived -- as fathers and mothers, and sons and daughters, and brothers and sisters who loved and hoped and dreamed, just like us.

We must tell our children about how this evil was allowed to happen -- because so many people succumbed to their darkest instincts, and because so many others stood silent.

I've cut to the section of his remarks in the following video - follow the link to YouTube to watch the entire speech.

Comments

Wow. Just reading that made me choke up. Going to Dachau was one of the most horrible yet good experiences I've had in horror travel. Cambodia matches, though seeing human bones and thousands of pictures of murdered people there might have been worse. It's a tossup.

Posted by: Paul R | Apr 24, 2012 11:52:41 AM

Finest president we'll ever know.

Posted by: Mic | Apr 24, 2012 12:27:50 PM

Discussing the Holocaust get's under my skin. First off, the Nazi Holocaust was a natural extension of the Eugenics movement that was very popular in the late 19th - early-mid 20th century. After the war [WW2] they changed their name, and today eugenics is still alive and well under various guises like Planned Parenthood / extreme abortion rights advocates, euthanasia advocates, etc. Yes, Planned Parenthood was founded by Eugenicist. And it was a primarily British and American movement. The Nazis got much of their 'racial' ideology from English and American sources and used the 'respectable' Eugenics Movement in [for example] America, England, Canada, etc as justification for what they did. And there were many members of the Eugenics Movement who were [are] Jewish and no doubt the movement has and has it's share of homosexuals.

Aside from all this, The Nazis, as wicked and evil as they were, actually didn't kill as many people in the 20th century as their far left fellow travelers, Marxist/Communists. The Swastika is now an evil symbol. But for some reason, the communist hammer and sickle isn't, and is even used in advertising. As is the image of Che, who was responsible for murdering many, many people because they weren't politically correct or desirable, including homosexuals.

With all due respect to the president, words are easy,sir. It's an easy thing in an election year to say the 'correct' thing. It's a lot harder to do the correct thing[s]. The fact the president received a Nobel Peace Prize and then proceeded to EXTEND our war[s] which are still going on today, with more to come shortly, is insanity. How many people have suffered and died SINCE The Holocaust? How many today? The Israelis have learned a lesson from the Nazi era, and that is to be armed to the teeth. What other lesson have they learned? Are Israelis guilty of Nazi-like tactics? Yes. And they should be better than that. The world isn't surprised when their [Israel] neighbors behave badly because it's expected from them [I know that's racist, but I'm just saying it like it is, I'm not saying I necessarily believe it].

Again, words are easy.

Posted by: ratbastard | Apr 24, 2012 12:40:17 PM

Sorry for the rant, you have to understand that blacks shot my father and were never caught and I'm sick of these coons getting a free pass just because we have a black president.

Posted by: ratbastard | Apr 24, 2012 12:45:52 PM

Little Canadian wrote the above slur and under the name 'ratbastard'.

=============

@Little Canadian/New Zealander,

Yes, my dad was shot in the back by a group of black males who targeted him for no other reason than the fact he was white. I understand you have an apparently very difficult time accepting this kind of evil, but it did and does occur.

Posted by: ratbastard | Apr 24, 2012 12:49:13 PM

Rat you might seek a therapist to help you move beyond the place you're at as it seems you need to find peace.

Posted by: Mic | Apr 24, 2012 12:49:43 PM

@MIC,

Are you also Little Canadian, AKA Little Kiwi? Who exactly am I 'speaking' with?

My friend, you do not 'move along' from stuff like this. Doesn't happen, and it shouldn't. It shouldn't be forgotten. Too bad I make some people uncomfortable. Too bad.

Posted by: ratbastard | Apr 24, 2012 12:53:29 PM

Ignore the troll posing as me. The blacks shot my dad and were never caught because the liberal media always protects blacks that target whites, as everyone knows. The story wasn't even reported in the news. Black-on-White crimes are never reported because the media is biased against whites, and I guess you'll call me a racist for saying that.

Posted by: ratbastard | Apr 24, 2012 12:55:42 PM

Troll, do not make light of my father being shot by blacks. It left him in a wheelchair and he eventually died, and the blacks were never caught and it was never reported because the media is biased with a liberal slant toward protecting blacks and ignoring whites.

I'm the real ratbastard, and my dad was shot by blacks who were never apprehended. It was never reported in the news, or filed as a police report, and that is simply because there's a liberal bias in the media that protects blacks. He was targeted for being white, but you won't hear about white-targeted hate, because of you liberals and your white-guilt.

Just one more of the many many reasons this gay white navy veteran will proudly cast my vote to re-elect Mr Obama.

Posted by: jack | Apr 24, 2012 6:37:35 PM

The racism in the gay community is utterly disgusting.

Posted by: JigsawFalling | Apr 24, 2012 7:49:41 PM

@Jigsawfalling: And the homophobia in the Black community is utterly disgusting. Unfortunately, just because you are Gay or Black doesn't mean you aren't a homophobe or a racist. Just sayin.

Posted by: jack | Apr 24, 2012 8:01:55 PM

History books in the US(at least K-12) do not always go into the extent of including gays and other minorities in text.

So it probably would have no affect.

Posted by: JigsawFalling | Apr 24, 2012 8:19:35 PM

I do wonder how the thinking teacher in TN will present history: "The Nazis targeted millions of Jewish people as well as hundreds of thousands of Poles, Catholics, gypsies and one group I am forbidden to mention."
Do you mean gay people, Mr. P.?"
"I am not permitted to acknowledge your question."

Posted by: Gregv | Apr 24, 2012 9:19:34 PM

I do wonder how the thinking teacher in TN will present history: "The Nazis targeted millions of Jewish people as well as hundreds of thousands of Poles, Catholics, gypsies and one group I am forbidden to mention."
Do you mean gay people, Mr. P.?"
"I am not permitted to acknowledge your question."

Posted by: Gregv | Apr 24, 2012 9:19:35 PM

I do wonder how the thinking teacher in TN will present history: "The Nazis targeted millions of Jewish people as well as hundreds of thousands of Poles, Catholics, gypsies and one group I am forbidden to mention."
Do you mean gay people, Mr. P.?"
"I am not permitted to acknowledge your question."

Posted by: Gregv | Apr 24, 2012 9:19:36 PM

Good for him for calling attention to this. There's been a disquieting movement in the past few years from some more extreme Jewish groups who get very "bent" if it's pointed out that other ethnicities or groups were targeted and died in the Holocaust, including gays but also Gypsies, Jehovah's Witnesses, "antisocials," etc. Some Jewish groups have even protested erecting Holocaust memorials mentioning these other groups, on the grounds that in their view it somehow lessens the impact of the 6 million Jews who died, and a few have even issued statements to the effect that the Jews more or less "own" the Holocaust, since they were the primary group targeted, and any group who dares to encroach on "their ownership" of the issue is to be condemned, etc. This infighting is a tragic waste, considering there are scary right-wing and Islamic groups who claim that the Holocaust never even happened! No one "owns" the Holocaust, it is a stain on all of humanity, and we are all diminished by it. (BTW, my partner is Jewish, and his grandfather was a rabbi who helped found the state of Israel.)

Posted by: Dback | Apr 24, 2012 10:15:47 PM

@Ratbastard: You have got to make up a more believabe story. No one is going to believe that the "fact" that your father was shot by Blacks "who were never apprehended", "never reported in the news", "or filed as a police report" and all that because the "liberal media protects blacks". That story sounds like a pack of lies. Does everyone else who has been following this guys comments already realize that he is a liar?

Posted by: jack | Apr 24, 2012 11:20:00 PM

The nazis were all butch gays. The fem gays wore the pink triangle because of blackmail.